The Bones of You
by Fran1993
Summary: After being forced into therapy by the Jeffersonian, Anne Rhonin and Lance Sweets discuss some of the more interesting cases she worked on during her time as a forensic anthropologist.
1. Chapter 1

The Woman in the Water, Part 1:

Annelise Rhonin, better known as Anne, sighed as she stepped into the office of the therapist appointed to her. She never thought she would ever go into therapy, as she never understood what good it would do anyone to repeat their entire life story to a complete stranger. Fortunately for her, her therapist was someone she had met before. Doctor Lance Sweets. They had met a few weeks ago, before.. She paused. No, it wouldn't do her any good to dwell on that. "Take a seat, Miss Rhonin." She frowned as she sat down onto one of the black leather chairs in front of her. "Really? I'm Miss Rhonin now?" Sweets chuckled at her remark. "Just trying to be professional. Being your therapist is new to me too." He straightened his jacket and sat down in front of her. "So, where do we start?" He clapped his hands and leaned forward, awaiting her answer. "What are we supposed to talk about here?"

"Anything you'd like. The Jeffersonian sent you to me for psychological evaluation, to determine whether or not you're ready to return to work. So for our first few sessions I would like to get to know you better."

"I think I'm more than ready for work. So why don't you just sign that stupid thing and be done with it?" Sweets sighed. "We both know I can't do that yet." Can't or won't, she thought to herself. "Why don't we start from the beginning? Tell me about one of your first cases together."

"Fine."

* * *

"Which gate did she say she was going to be at?" I said running after Angela through one of the busiest airports I've had ever seen. We were late, very late. "I don't know sweetie, let's check one of the boards. I'm sure it's on there somewhere." Angela said pushing through a crowd of people in front of the arrivals board. She sighed and rubbed her temples. "Great. This board is broken. Now what?"

"Don't worry. I'm sure we can ask someone?" I said, turning to the people behind us. "Does anyone know about the flight from Guatemala? Anyone? Guatemala?" No response, instead the people just scattered off, completely ignoring us. "So much for their help." Angela said as she hooked arms with me. "Maybe we can ask one of the employees over there?" She pointed at a man near one of the check in stations as we walked towards it. "It's worth a shot."

"Excuse me. Hi." Angela said as she approached the check in station. "You have a computer glitch at the arrivals board." The man held up two fingers as if to shush her and continued typing on his computer. All right, then. "Hello?" I snapped my fingers in front of his face, trying to grab his attention. Instead of a reply he raised his fingers at us again. "Great." Angela said to herself as she opened her sweater, revealing her bralette. "Angela!" She smiled at me, knowing she had finally gotten the man's attention. "Yeah. So, the flight from Guatemala?"

"Tell me you tried an excuse me first." We turned around to person speaking behind us. There she was. Doctor Temperance Brennan. I guess we weren't as late as we thought we were. "Sweetie!" Angela said as she ran over to Brennan for a hug, who dropped her bag in surprise. "Yes, I did. Welcome home!" She said, smiling, after letting go of Brennan. "Look who I brought with me." Angela stepped aside and pulled me into view. "Good to see you, Miss Rhonin. I trust the lab is still running the way it's supposed to." Brennan said, returning the hug I gave her. "Of course it is. I wouldn't let you down, you know that." I winked, handing over the bag she dropped as we followed after Angela. "So, are you exhausted? Was Guatemala awful? Was it horribly backwards?" Angela said as we walked towards the exit. "Yes, yet I was never reduced to flashing my boobs for information." I chuckled. "Well then, did you flash them for any fun reasons?"

"I was examining mass graves, there's nothing romantic about that." Brennan said, tucking her sunglasses into one of her pockets. "Well, diving into smelly cadavers is no way to handle a messy break up." Angela said with a smirk on her face. "Angela, nothing Pete and I ever did was messy."

"Are you sure?" I said. "If that's true then you weren't doing the right things." At that Brennan suddenly stopped walking and dropped her bag on the floor. Angela and I turned around and saw a large, bald security guard grab Brennan's arm. "Sir, why are you following us?" When he didn't respond Brennan proceeded to use her self-defense classes against him and pinned him down. "Hello?! Who runs this airport?" Angela yelled as she looked around for help. "Kick his ass, Brennan." I said, cheering her on. "Police! Step back now!" I stopped laughing as soon as the young police officer pointed his gun at us. "Alright, calm down." I said, holding my hands up in the air. "He attacked me!" Brennan remarked, letting go of the security guard. "I'm homeland security!" He yelled, as another police officer helped him up on his feet. "Uhm.. Little misunderstanding here." Angela said as she saw more police officers running our way. "Put away your guns."

"What? Are they in charge now?" The security guard yelled as he saw one of the officers lower his gun. "I'll tell you when you can lower your weapons!" I rolled my eyes at him. "Now hand over the bag." He said, pointing at Brennan's bag on the floor next to me. "Is that what this is about? Brennan's luggage?" I said, handing over the bag. What could be so important about that? I thought to myself. But as soon as the guard opened it, I understood what was going on. "You brought a skull back from Guatemala?" I heard Angela say as the security guard dropped the bag on the floor in disgust. "What else would I keep in there?"

* * *

"Soon after Brennan was arrested by the homeland security guard, Angela and I got called back to the lab. They told us that a body was found in a lake near Arlington cemetery. While Angela drove us back to the Jeffersonian, I received a call from Brennan saying she was free to go and on her way to the cemetery."

"So, what happened to Doctor Brennan at the airport? Why did they let her go?" Sweets asked as he took a sip from his coffee. "Not important." I said as I tried to continue my story. "It is to me. I want to know the whole story, not just bits and pieces." I rolled my eyes, it almost seemed like Sweets was enjoying listening to my story a little too much. "Fine. If you must know, Agent Booth played a prank on her." Sweets chuckled. "Sounds like him, all right."

* * *

"The pond is not only warm and full of microbes which accelerated decomposition, but it houses black carpers and koi which fed on the body." Hodgins said as he walked over to the body in front of us. "Can I, as the only normal person in this room, say ew?" Angela said while photographing the body. Hodgins sighed and continued. "I got 3 larval stages of trichoptera, chironomidae.."

"And as we cut to the chase.." Brennan interrupted him. "The body was in the pond one winter and two summers."

"Spring before last?"

"You really think I'm lusty?" Brennan raised an eyebrow at that. "The book." I said, clarifying what Hodgins asked. "No, no. You're not in the book." Zack smirked. "Sure he is, we all are."

"No, none of you are in the book. Those are all fictitious characters based on.."

"I found some small bone fragments in the silt." Hodgins said as he pointed to the screen next to him. "So, we're out of the book now and back in real life?" Angela asked. "I guess we're on temporaria." He said as he showed us a few small bones in a petri dish. "Frog bones?" I asked. "And tiny gold links from a fine chain."

"Point of clarification, I'm not a virgin. Nowhere near in fact." Zack said matter-of-factly. I smirked and spoke. "I can vouch for that." Angela chuckled and turned to face Brennan. "Who you captured perfectly is Booth. Buttoned down but buckets of sexual confidence, which I for one would love to tap."

"It's not right to discuss tapping asses in front of a soaked.."

"Well you're the one who started the sex-talk." I said, interrupting Zack. Brennan sighed. "I can't keep bouncing back and forth between my book and real life all the time, so since we're stuck with real life, let's just forget about the book." Hodgins nodded and spoke. "Well, I haven't analyzed yet what the victim was holding in her hand. But it looks like cellulose."

"Paper?" Angela asked. "Possibly."

"I found microscopic gritting imbedded in the skull fragments, I need you to identify those too. Anne, would you and Zack please remove the remaining tissue then I will reassemble the skull fragments myself so Angela can put a face on our victim." Angela nodded. "Good. I prefer holographs. They don't stink." After Angela walked away, Brennan approached Zack and spoke. "Zack. I don't like those terms you like to use for human remains so.." Zack nodded and apologized. "I know Doctor Brennan."

"Good." With that she walked away and left us to clean the bones. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

The next morning Zack and I approached Doctor Brennan's desk where she lay asleep with the skull next to her. It was completely reassembled with tissue markers in place. I sighed and I placed a cup of coffee in front of her. As I turned to log onto the computer, I heard her wake up behind me. "Thanks Miss Rhonin." I smiled. "You're welcome."


	2. Chapter 2

The Woman in the Water, Part 2:

"Good morning" Doctor Brennan said as she walked into Angela's office where we were waiting for her. She moved over to Agent Booth who was examining the holographic display. "Does Booth know how it works?" She asked as she walked past him to stand next to Angela. "I'll explain it just in case. This computer program, which I designed, accepts a full array of visual input, processes it and then projects it as a three dimensional holographic image."

"O-kay." Booth said, I smiled. I was pretty sure he didn't understand a word Angela had just said. "Did you get that?" Brennan asked him. "Yeah."

"Brennan reassembled the skull, and applied tissue markers."

"Her skull was badly damaged, but racial indicators, cheekbone dimensions, nasal arch, and occipital measurements suggest African American." With that Angela started typing variables into the program. "And.. We have our victim." She said as the image of a young woman appeared in front of us. "Wow." Booth said as he stuck his hand through the hologram. "I must admit that that's pretty cool."

"Ang, rerun the program substituting Caucasian values." With that the hologram changed again. "Does she look familiar to anyone?" Brennen asked. Booth shook his head. "No."

"Split the difference, mixed race."

"Lenny Kravitz or Vanessa Williams?" Brennan raised an eyebrow at that. "I don't know what that means." Angela shrugged and mouthed Vanessa Williams as she changed the hologram again. "Angela, reduce tissue depth of the cheekbones and the jawline." After this Brennan asked again. "Does anyone recognize her?"

"Not me." Zack said, looking at me as I stepped forward. "Wait. Is that who I think it is?" I said, looking back at Zack, who seemed to understand where I was going. "The girl who had the affair with the senator?"

"Exactly, yeah." I crossed my arms and stepped back. "Her name is Cleo Louise Eller. Only daughter to Ted and Sharon Eller. Last seen approximately 9 AM, April 6 2003, leaving the Cardinal Deluxe gym on Bay street. She didn't even make it to her car." Brennan raised an eyebrow at Booth. "Very good memory."

"Yeah, well it's my job to find her."

"In that case congratulations on your success." Hodgins said, crossing his arms in front of him. "This isn't exactly the way I wanted it to end." Booth said as he walked out of the office with Brennan following behind him.

* * *

During our lunch break we all decided to sit outside on the steps of the museum building on the opposite side of the Jeffersonian. I loved being outside after working in the lab all day, it made me feel refreshed. As I took a seat on one of the nearby steps, Zack sat down next to me and handed me my lunch from his backpack. "Thanks." I said as I opened a small bow of macaroni and cheese, the same old meal he made for us every day. I never complained though, I knew how much he loved it. "Cleo Eller wasn't just some missing girl." I turned around when I heard Booth approach the stairs. "Yeah, she's a senate intern who was boinking Senator Alan Bethlehem." Hodgins remarked as he took a bite from his sandwich. "I was secondary in the investigation to the disappearance of that girl and we couldn't confirm that." Booth said as he handed Brennan a picture, which I assumed showed Cleo. "How did you recognize her before she even had her own face?" He asked. "I recognized the architecture of her features, the rest is just window dressing."

"I'm not an expert but shouldn't he be happier?" Zack asked me. Before I could answer, Booth spoke up. "No, no. Believe me I'm happy."

"You seem happy to me." I said with a smirk on my face as I took another bite of my macaroni. Booth sighed as he started walking down the steps. "I need this kept quiet."

"Ha! Cover up!" Hodgins yelled after Booth. "Stop it with the conspiracy theories." Angela said and punched his shoulder. "Really? Is it paranoia that Monica Lewinski was a KGB trained sex-agent mole?" At that I rolled my eyes. Hodgins overthought things way too much.

* * *

"There are stab marks here, and odd markings on the distal phalanges." I said pointing out the places that needed to be photographed. Zack nodded and got to work. "Very good, Miss Rhonin." Brennan said as she and Hodgins walked into the bone room. "So, in a nutshell? Anxious, distressed and nausceous." I raised an eyebrow at Hodgins comment. "Take a sick day?" Hodgins sighed. "Not me, Cleo Eller. Tox screen showed that she was on Lorazepam, chlordiazepoxide and meclizine hypochlorite."

"Nausea.. Show me those bone fragments again, Miss Rhonin." Brennan said, pointing at the petri dish containing the frog bones. Brennan placed the bones underneath the microscope and examined them further. "These aren't frog bones. Cleo Eller was pregnant."

"Fetal remains." Zack said softly. "Maleus, incus, stapus.. These are fetal ear bones." Brennan said, looking up from the microscope. "She was pregnant.." I sighed. "Poor girl, she wasn't very far along."

"Want me to get DNA readings? See if we can get paternality? Zack asked Brennan as he picked up the petri dish. "We can try. Let's hope there's enough genetic material to test."

"This senator.. Oh, he is smart. He gets an intern pregnant, then murders her when it threatens his career. And he has the connections to get away with it." Brennan chuckled. "I hate it when you make paranoia plausible. It's like sliding off a cliff." "Normally I wouldn't agree with his assumptions, but Hodgins does have a point with that one." I said. Hodgins smiled at me as he picked up the report from the table. "No way Brennan's FBI pal heads it up unless the dark powers in charge are convinced he knows where his political bread is buttered. Either way, that's where this investigation ends."

* * *

Zack sat down next to me at the dinner table where I was reading through the case file, and placed a plate of lasagna in front of me. After a few seconds of talking to me without a response, he sighed. "You haven't heard a word I said, have you?" I looked up from the file and got out of my trance. "I'm sorry. This case has really got me on edge." Zack moved his hand over to mine and gave me a slight smile. "Is it because the of the victim?"

"Cleo. The victim's name was Cleo." I remarked quietly. "I just feel sorry for her. That's all."

"I see. I don't know what to say to that." Zack said, looking a little defeated. Zack never really was good with emotions, though I could tell that he was trying to understand how I felt. "It's okay." I said as I stood up from my seat and walked over to the bedroom. "You didn't even touch your lasagna." Zack said as he turned in my direction. "Maybe I have a different kind of appetite." I winked and walked into the bedroom. It took a few seconds for Zack to understand exactly what I meant. "You mean.. Oh." With that he happily walked over to me and as soon as he reached me, he pulled me into a passionate kiss. I smiled and slowly tugged him toward the bed. I unbuttoned his shirt and slid it of his shoulders. We broke the kiss as I quickly pulled my own shirt over my head. "Accelerated heartbeat, heavy breathing along with dilated pupils." He said as he pushed me down onto the bed. "And they say science isn't romantic." I smiled as we started kissing again. We were so going to be late for work in the morning.

* * *

"This is a rough composite, but you get the idea." Angela said as she started up holographic monitor again, motioning Brennan to begin. "The skull trauma was not the cause of death, Cleo was stabbed first. She was stabbed five times with a military issued K-Bar knife."

"And I just completed this rendering. The defensive wounds to the bones of her hands suggest that it wasn't until the third or the fourth penetration that.." Brennan interrupted her and pointed out one of the stab marks. "There. That's most likely the fatal stab."

"After which Cleo stopped fighting back." I said crossing my arms in front of me. "I believe that the distinctive damage to her distal phalanges, the tips of her finger bones, was caused by the murderer using a knife to remove her finger pads. Cranial fragmentation suggests that a 20lb hammer struck four to five times while the victims head rested on a cement floor containing traces of diatomaceous earth. That's the best explanation for the particulates found in her skull. This was not a crime of passion." Angela sighed after Brennan stopped talking. "Cleo never saw the first stab coming, it didn't arise out of an argument. Why smash Cleo's face, why whittle away her finger tips, remove her clothing and her jewelry?"

"Sink her body." Zack said in response. "The murderer put more effort into hiding the victim's identity than he did into the murder itself." After that Hodgins walked into the room. "In case Cleo was ever identified, the murderer planted evidence. The little book that Brennan got from Cleo's stalker matches the cellulose I found in Cleo's hand."

"Military cemetery, military knife. Both of which implicate her own father. More misdirection." I said, thinking aloud. "Sound like any conniving, son of a bitch senators you know?" Hodgins said as he walked over to the holograph. "You expect me to declare war on a United States Senator based on your little holographic crystal ball?" Booth said as he approached the holograph as well. "It's not magic, it's a logical recreation of events based on the evidence." I said, feeling a little insulted. "No more valid than my gut." Booth said, disregarding my comment. "A good hypothesis withstands testing, that's what makes it a good hypothesis." Zack commented in my defense. "It's not a hypothesis, you have a dead girl and a United States Senator. This is exactly why you squints belong in the lab. You guys don't know anything about the real world." At that Brennan glared at Booth and walked out of the room. "Come on, guys. We're done here."

* * *

"So, what happened after that?" Sweets asked as I got up to get myself a glass of water. "Well, after talking to Brennan again later that evening, Booth admitted to her that she was right about Senator Bechlehem and got the warrant to search his place where surprise, surprise, they found the a sledgehammer."

"You know, it's interesting how you can recall this case in such great detail after, say, 3 years." I smirked at him as I sat back down. "I have eidetic memory."

"That explains it." Sweets said as he leaned forward again. "So, in the end, was it Bechlehem that killed Cleo?"

* * *

"They won't even arrest him?" Zack said as he sat down on the couch next to me. "Don't worry." Hodgins said. "If that's the hammer used on Cleo Eller he'll get arrested." At that he picked up his glass and held it in front of him. "A toast, for getting the murderous bastard." After toasting I took a sip from my glass and cringed. "What the hell is that?" Before Hodgins could answer me though, Brennan spoke up. "The hammer is not enough. He's going to get away with it. Maybe Booth is right, maybe outside the lab we're useless."

"Hey!" I said aloud. "Don't talk us down like that."

"Let us take guidance from the lives of the saints." With that Hodgins held up the small prayer book Brennan got from Cleo's stalker. "Albertus Magnus, Patron Saint of Scientists." Zack raised an eyebrow at that. "I thought Magnus was the Patron Saint of fish mongers?" I ruffled his hair and set my now empty glass down onto the table in front of us. "They were two separate entities. Albertus Magnus was a 13th century philosopher, the fish monger saint was a.."

"Fish!" At that everyone stared at Brennan in disbelief as she interrupted me. "Hodgins, you said that diatomaceous earth could be used as a filtering agent, correct?"

"Yeah, for swimming pools, water filters.."

"Or tropical fish." Brennan said as she interrupted Hodgins. "The stalker said that Ken Thompson, Cleo's boyfriend, kept fish." As she finished speaking again, Brennan turned to walk away but she soon as she put on her jacket, she turned back and continued to talk to us. "Thompson read the warrant, he knows we're looking for diatomaceous earth. Get in touch with Booth and tell him where I'm going, okay?" I nodded and took out my cell. "She didn't actually say where she was going, did she?" Angela asked us, to which Hodgins just shrugged and took another sip from his drink.

* * *

"Now after Brennan left for Thompson's house, she shot him in the leg to keep him from destroying the evidence. After which Booth arrived and arrested him for the murder of Cleo Eller. She had a lovely service, you know." Sweets raised an eyebrow at me. "You attended her funeral?"

"Of course, we all did. Why is that such a surprise?"

"It's just that at first glance, you seem to distance yourself from other people. But I think that deep down, you care more than you'd like to admit." I rolled my eyes at him. "Whatever. Can I go home now that I finished the story?"

"Sure." Sweets stood up and held out his hand to me, which I ignored. "You know, I think we made good progress today. I'll see you tomorrow at 3. Don't be late."

"It's not like I have anything better to do anyway." I said as I closed the door behind me.

* * *

Author's Note: Thanks to Laura for the fastest review I've ever had on a story.


	3. Chapter 3

The Man in the Fallout Shelter, Part 1:

"So, tell me about your partner.." Sweets said as he flipped through his notebook. "Doctor Zack Addy?"

"What about him?" Anne said, glaring at Sweets. "Well, you two were living together, correct?"

"Define living together." Sweets raised an eyebrow at her comment. "He's working in Iraq at the moment, so.."

"I see. And you're mad at him because of that?"

"I'm not mad at anyone." Anne said. She frowned as she caught herself slightly raising her voice at Sweets. "Fine, maybe a little. I'm not mad at him for going, well I am, but that's not the issue here." She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. This was going to be a long session. "I'm not mad at him for going, I'm mad at him because he never told me he was going there in the first place."

"He didn't tell you he was going to Iraq?" She shook her head and crossed her arms over one another. "Nope. He made Booth tell us. All of us, together. I wasn't even the first to know." Sweets picked up his pencil and put it in the corner of his mouth, looking deep in thought for a moment before speaking up again. "Do you think perhaps that's where your anger management issues began?"

"Are we really going there right now?" Anne said angrily, making Sweets hold up his hands in surrender. "Hey, don't get mad at me. I'm just trying to do my job. Tell you what, why don't we just talk about another one the murder cases you've solved? One that really stood out from the rest." Anne thought about it for a moment, at least he would shut up for a while if she told him about another case. "Okay, Fine. Let me think." She said as she looked around his office for a while. When her eyes landed on a box of old Christmas decorations Sweets kept in the closet, she smiled. "Well, there was this one time we were forced to spend Christmas Eve in the lab." Sweets nodded and hastily picked up his notebook again, nearly dropping it on the floor in his excitement. "Great, let's begin."

* * *

"Sweetie! Sweetie, hold up!" Angela said as we both ran after Brennan onto the forensic platform. "No, Angela. I don't want to."

"But why not, It'll be fun!" I said, jingling the Christmas bell around my neck. "Sweetie could you stop galloping for, like, two seconds and talk to us?"

"No, I'm better able to withstand peer pressure when you guys can't catch me." Angela pouted at that. "Call it a favor, okay?"

"How is me going to a company Christmas party doing you a favor?"

"Well, remember what happened last year?" I chuckled at that memory. "I didn't go last year." Brennan said, raising an eyebrow at me. "Yeah, exactly. Because you didn't go, and Anne was off gallivanting with Zack.."

"Hey!" I said, interrupting her. "The point is you both weren't there to stop me from doing something stupid. And it took me weeks to collect all those photocopies."

"Photocopies?"

"Yeah, you see? I need you. Friends don't let friends photocopy their butts at company Christmas parties." I stuck my tongue out at Angela for holding a grudge against me. "Besides, there's a Secret Santa."

"I don't like Secret Santa. The idea that we are forced by convention to exchange meaningless gifts is.."

"Yeah. Yeah. We know. If you rearrange Secret Santa you get Secret Satan." I said, interrupting Brennan who gave me a confused look. At least she finally stopped running around. "What possible meaning could that have?" All right, then. No more jokes for me. "We've already hit the eggnog, if you can't tell. Now, how am I going to enjoy this party knowing that one of my best friends in the whole world is stuck in the lab, eyeball to eyeball with.. Skeletor?" Angela laughed as she held up the arm of the one of the skeletons standing in the corner. "Who?"

"He's a cartoon villain who looks like a.."

"You know his name is self-explanatory." Angela said as she interrupted me. "Would you please just come to this party?" At that we both held up our hands in a pleading way, giving Brennan our best smiles. Brennan sighed. "Twenty minutes, no more." At that Angela and I high-fived each other and followed Brennan off of the platform. Unfortunately for us, Booth stopped us before we could head off to the party. "Merry Christmas, Seeley." Angela said as he stopped in front of us. "Oh, wow. So, what are you guys, elfs?" Booth said as he stared at our costumes with a weird look on his face. Both Angela and I were dressed as Santa's little helpers. "Yes, we are. What's wrong with a little Christmas spirit?" I said as I twirled around playfully, after which Brennan snatched a file out of Booths hand. "What's the context?" Brennan said as she read through the file. "A federal property on Dupont Circle where Congress puts up visiting agricultural specialists, or something like that, they're digging to put in a solarium. During which they found a fallout shelter with a skeleton inside." At that Brennan held up a picture of the skeleton for us to see. "How long was it in there?" I said. "Shelter was built in the fifties, part of that whole A-bomb panic."

"It's not a suicide." Brennan said as she picked up another picture. "Why not? Hole in the head, you see the gun next to him.." Booth said pointing at the gun in the picture. "It's a suicide."

"He shoots himself in the head and somehow his arm ends up across his chest?" Brennan said, pointing out the fact that the skeleton in the picture held both of his arms to his chest. "Bring the skeleton in, I'll prove it wasn't a suicide." At that Booth clapped his hands together and walked off. "Merry Christmas, Bones." Booth smirked at her after which he whistled at his FBI buddies, signaling them to bring the body in. "Come on, boys. Bring it in." Booth said as the two FBI agents carrying a stretcher with the skeleton on it made their way up to the platform. "Oh, no." Angela said as she stood up from the table next to me. "We are going to the Christmas party!"

"Well, you two can go ahead. I'll just do a cursory examination and you'll see me in a few minutes."

"All right. There you go. Wow." Booth said as he helped lower the body onto the table. As he turned to leave however, Brennan stopped him. "Booth, will you escort Angela and Anne to the Christmas party and make sure Angela doesn't photocopy her butt?" At that I laughed. "Oh, no, no. I can't do that. You see, I've got some really, really last-minute important Christmas shopping that I gotta do." At that Angela grabbed him by the arm and spoke up. "It's not last-minute until tomorrow."

"Come on, Bones! Bones?" Angela smiled as she dragged Booth with her. "I just- I gotta.."

"Come on!" I said as I took his other arm. "Geez." Booth said, as he slowly walked with us.

* * *

I sighed as I watched Brennan at work. I didn't even make it to the Christmas party before she paged me back. "What do you have there?" I said as Brennan pulled out a piece of paper from the skeletons jacket. "Two open tickets to Paris, one way. Pan Transit Airlines. They're blank."

"Pan transit went out of business in the sixties." Booth said as he walked up to the platform. "I thought you were at the party? With Angela?" I said, standing up from the table I sat on. "Ugh, it wasn't a party. It was a Star Wars convention."

"This was in the skull." Brennan said, interrupting our conversation and holding up a something that looked like it could have been a bullet. ".22 caliber. Matches the gun we found with him. Did you open up the suitcase?" Booth said. "Nope." I remarked as I walked over to him. "Why not?"

"It could hold information that would compromise my objectivity." Brennan said as she held the bullet up under a looking glass. "Oh, yeah? Like a name and address?" I chuckled at that. "I prefer to make my own unbiased initial observations.. Is that pure alcohol?" Brennan said as she spotted Zack and Hodgins walking across one of the walkways on the upper level of the lab. Hodgins carrying a beaker filled with what looked like alcohol. "Yes, Doctor Brennan." Zack said, looking flustered. Hodgins shot him a dirty look. "Do you really think Doctor Goodman is going to let you spike the eggnog after the Fourth of July Fiasco." At that Hodgins sighed. "We may need to rethink our strategy."

"Zack, I need you to help Anne clean these bones."

"Now?" Hodgins laughed at Zack, who sounded disappointed at Brennan's request. "Burned." He said as he tried to walk off. "Yes, now. And Hodgins I need you to search the clothing for insect evidence." At that he stopped walking, and lowered the beaker in defeat. "Geez, Bones. It's Christmas."

"Okay. You people listen to me!" Angela said, angrily stomping onto the platform. "There is a party going on upstairs, okay? A Christmas party. We're all going up there. We're gonna talk to some people, we're gonna sing some carols and we're gonna drink some eggnog." She pointed at Booth for a moment. "You are going to kiss me under the mistletoe. On the lips." She then turned to Zack and Hodgins. "I might kiss you guys under the mistletoe, too." She then turned to Brennan and me. "Maybe even you two. In a festive, non-lesbian manner. But we ARE going to that party."

* * *

"Put on a mask. I'm going to take a couple core samples." Zack said to Hodgins as he got ready to use his electronic saw on the distal femur. "Okay." Hodgins said as he held a mask up to his mouth. However while Zack was working on the bone, Hodgins pulled his mask away and took a sip of eggnog. "Don't do that. We're working." I said, at which Hodgins simply winked at me. As soon as he was about to take another sip of the eggnog, dust particles filled the air setting of an alarm throughout the lab. "Uh oh." I said looking Zack and Hodgins in the eye, before turning my head in the direction of the decontamination shower then looking back at them. As soon as I did that though, the three of us sprinted to the shower and fought to get in, resulting in us having to take the shower together. Not one of my finest moments, I might add.

* * *

"There's no use panicking until we know what it is." We heard Doctor Brennan say as we headed back into the main lab area. I was drying my hair with a towel when Hodgins spoke up. "We might know." He said. "Zack cut into the fallout shelter bones and the biohazard alarm went off."

"Were you conforming to autopsy protocol?" Doctor Goodman said, as he approached us. When did he get here? "Some of us were." Zack said as he eyed Hodgins who held up his hands in defense. "I was just drinking a bit of eggnog."

"And you didn't have your mask on.." Doctor Goodman said as we all started walking towards Brennan's office.

"The pathogen is coccidiodomycosis." The speakers said as Hodgins turned on one of the computer screens, still wearing nothing but a towel. After the screen turned on, Hal, the leader of emergency personnel, showed up on it wearing a Santa suit. "Valley fever?" Doctor Goodman said as he took a seat on one of the chairs opposite of me and Zack. Unfortunatly the three of us didn't get the chance to change into something a bit more comfortable. "It was picked up by the scanner in the discharge vent at Mr. Addy's station."

"What's valley fever?" Booth said as he stepped out of the Hal's way. "It's a fungus that can lead to pneumonia, meningitis, spontaneous abortion, death." Zack answered. "The alarm sounded shortly after Zack cut into the bone. That must've been the source." I said as I pinched the bridge of my nose. This was so embarrassing. "Was he following autopsy protocol?"

"Of course he was." Brennan said quickly. "However.."

"I was drinking an eggnog." Hodgins stated. "And now he's there with you breathing in the same air." At that everyone took a step away from Hodgins. "Hey! I got into a decontamination shower with the two of them. Do you have any idea how confined it was in there? Haven't I been through enough hell?" At that Angela chuckled. "Is he contagious?" Booth said, pointing at Hodgins. "Doctor Hodgins may have inhaled the spores, yes."

"Okay, it must suck to be Hodgins right now. But the rest of us, we didn't inhale it. So it's okay if we go, right?"

"Doctor Hodgins may have exhaled spores all over you." At that I cringed. Great. "We have no choice but to impose quarantine. Valley fever can be fatal, and we can't risk a pandemic. Just calm down and let us handle things from this side." The safe side he meant.. "Anyone besides me worried that a guy dressed as Santa is in charge?" Booth commented as he scratched the back of his head. "Merry Christmas." Hodgins said begrudgingly. At that the screen shut off and Booth turned to me, Zack and Hodgins sitting on the couch. "Okay, you know what? If this is fatal, I will shoot all of you."

"That's not fair!"" I said as I stood up in anger, holding my towel in place. "Maybe you guys should go get dressed first." Angela said with a smirk on her face. Oops.


	4. Chapter 4

The Man in the Fallout Shelter, Part 2:

"I zapped the bones with ultraviolet light and arranged them on the isolation table so we won't have to worry about spores. In addition, I found this sewn into the lining of his clothing." Zack said as he handed Doctor Brennan a small bag with a ring inside. "A woman's wedding band."

"Two tickets to Paris and a wedding band. A picture begins to form." I said taking the ring from Brennan, examining it closely. "We don't form pictures Miss Rhonin. We accumulate evidence. Dental work?"

"Acrylic resins in the interior fillings from the 1940's. Childhood tibia break, bad enough that he would have walked with a limp." Zack showed us another bag. "Also, he wore a toupee." Brennan walked over to him and took a sample of the hair. "It doesn't seem to have degraded."

"It's made out of a synthetic called Dynell. It couldn't have looked good." After Zack finished talking, I noticed Booth was heading our way. "Come with me. Bones. Hal needs to speak with us."

* * *

Hal stood before us in a green hazmat suit, with a silver tray next to him. "What I have here is a cocktail of four antifungal drugs, including ampothericin B. Orally, you'll be taking ketoconazole, fluconazole, and itraconazole." Oh, no. I could see where this was going. "That's great." Brennan said sarcastically. "So after we've taken the medicine, we can leave?"

"We won't know for a couple of days if the fungus took hold in your system." Hal said as he handed the silver tray over to one of the other emergency workers with him. When one of them approached me, he picked up a single needle from the tray. I widened my eyes and took a step back, holding my a hand to my forehead. "Zack.. I'm not feeling so.." I said, holding onto his arm. After that everything went black.

* * *

"Did she just.. Faint?" Angela said, walking towards Zack who held an unconscious Anne in his arms. "Uh, yeah. Anne's got trypanophobia." He said as he lowered her onto the floor. "Yeah, whatever." Booth said. "Now, doc. Are you seriously telling us we're stuck here over Christmas? I have places to go, you know? I have obligations."

"We all have obligations." Goodman commented. "I'm supposed to go to Quebec." Hodgins said, at which Angela frowned and spoke up. "I hope you remember whose fault this is?"

"Who forced me to go to the party where I found the eggnog?"

"Who never should have cut into a bone with a drunken fool into the room?" At this Zack rolled his eyes. "And who brought us the human remains just to ditch a little paperwork?" She continued, walking up to Booth. "Oh, so you're saying this is my fault?" At this Goodman stepped up. "You knew Doctor Brennan could not resist."

"I'd have been able to resist if I was in Niger, where I wanted to be." Brennan said, glaring at Goodman. "You're blaming me?" Hal loudly cleared his throat. "Ladies and gentleman. We'll have sleeping bags delivered. Please have your loved ones call me and we'll set up some kind of safe, quarantined visit on Christmas Eve. Oh, and after you've taken the medicine be prepared for some minor side effects."

"Nausea, fever, insomnia.." Zack said, still sitting on the floor with Anne in his arms. "In some very rare cases, euphoria, dream state and mild hallucinations."

"I'll take that, please." Angela said, cringing as she received her shot. "Early symptoms mimic a common cold." Hal commented, finishing Zack's sentence. "What if it manifests?" Goodman asked worryingly. "First treatment protocol involves extremely painful injections into the base of the brain." Zack answered. "You know what?" Booth said, interrupting the conversation. "I never realized how pretty all this shiny stuff is." Hodgins groaned as he got his shot too. "That is so not fair."

* * *

"Tomorrow I was supposed to leave for Quebec. You wanna know the true meaning of Christmas? It's being inside a 300 year old inn with a French Canadian masseuse when there's ten feet of snow outside."

"Shut up, Hodgins." I said, lying on top of an autopsy table in a sleeping bag. "You're not helping my headache." I held a hand in front of my eyes and frowned. Can't believe I fainted. "Oh, yeah?" As soon as Hodgins started talking, Zack interrupted him. "Christmas is going home to Michigan and heading into the woods with your brothers to cut a twelve foot Christmas tree, and you all decorate it together. Brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, loved ones. Forty people who all love you and are happy to see you. That, my friends, is the true meaning of Christmas." I smiled, Zack could be really sentimental at times. "Nah, I'm gonna have to go with the masseuse on this one." I rolled my eyes at Hodgins comment and turned to look at Zack. At least we were together for Christmas.

* * *

I yawned and stretched out my hands above my head as I followed Zack and Hodgins down the platform and into the lab. "That was the worst night's sleep I've ever had." I said, while listening to Zack and Hodgins as they discussed valley fever. "In some cases of valley fever, suppurating skin lesions appear."

"Could someone in a position of power please order Zack to shut up"

"I can do that." I said, walking up to Zack and giving him a quick kiss on the lips. "Coffee, I need coffee." Angela said as she approached us. "Good morning, Miss Montenegro." Doctor Goodman said as he rode in a card of food and drinks into the main lab area. "Where did you get this?" I asked as I picked up a piece of bread. "The hazmat team brought it over early this morning. Very appetizing, wouldn't you agree?" He answered, turning to Booth who walked over to join us. "Are you back with us, Agent Booth?"

"Yeah, think so."

"Since we're gonna be stuck together for Christmas, we should make the most of it." Angela said, placing a hand on my shoulder. "How?" I asked, taking another bite of my sandwich. "We'll decorate this place and exchange handmade gifts."

"An excellent idea, Miss Montenegro." Goodman said. "I can get behind that." Zack commented. "I'm in." Hodgins said with a smirk on his face. "How about Bones?" Booth said, making us all turn in his direction. He was right to ask about her, however, Brennan never really seemed to enjoy Christmas. Most likely because of her parents.. "Aw, come on. What's the deal with Bones and Christmas?" Booth asked. Angela sighed and answered him. "Last night I spun a little story about two young lovers running off to Paris. But the man never shows up, and the woman is left wondering what happened to him. And I said, Imagine what that must have been like. Then Brennan said, I don't have to." Booth seemed to think that over for a few seconds, then spoke again. "Yeah.. I still don't get it." At that Doctor Goodman rolled his eyes. "Oh my god."

"What?"

"Brennan's parents disappeared just before Christmas when she was fifteen." Angela said angrily. "And she never knew what happened to them." Goodman commented. "Oh. That explains a lot." Booth said as he scratched the back of his head. "Alright, we need a way to choose our Secret Santa's." I said, breaking up the conversation. "I could build a random generator?" Zack said quickly. "Ah, wouldn't it be better to match complimentary people in a premeditated manner?" Goodman said, thinking aloud. "I've got six numbers in my head and six letters. You tell me the number and I'll tell you the matching letter." Hodgins said. I sighed and started ripping up a piece of paper from the cart, handing it to Angela who wrote names on them. Booth then put the names in an empty container and swirled it around. "Are the letters sequential or the numbers?" Goodman asked Hodgins. "Letters, we'll go in order from oldest to youngest."

"Seven." Zack said. "There's no seven." Hodgins said, raising an eyebrow at Zack. "A through F, and one through six." After Goodman stopped talking I cleared my throat holding the bowl of names in front of them. "Pick a name, and if you get your own, put it back." They all looked and me for a second, and then at each other before speaking up again. "Oh, that could work." Goodman said as he picked a name from the bowl. "Yeah, that's good." Hodgins laughed as he read the name he picked. For a bunch of scientists, they sure could be stupid sometimes.

* * *

"We have to be extremely creative." Angela said as we were sifting through various supplies in an effort to make Christmas decorations. "Maybe string a bunch of test tubes together, fill them up with luminescent liquids." Hodgins said as he filled a bag with clear test tubes. "They'll probably give us cancer." Zack commented. "Very festive." I said, holding back a laugh. "That would be fitting this Christmas." Goodman said, smiling at me. "Tidings of joy, people. Tidings of joy." Angela said as she rolled up a silver chain around her arm. "Decorations do not a Christmas make, family and friends do." Goodman commented. "We're friends." Hodgins said quickly. At that Goodman raised an eyebrow. "Ok, fine. Some of us are." Hodgins corrected himself. "We are colleagues, friends, coworkers, yes. But for a father like myself and Agent Booth.." At that everyone paused. "Wait, what?" I said with wide eyes. "A few glowing test tubes don't make up for missing Christmas morning with the children."

"Excuse me." Angela interrupted him. "Be kind, rewind." Zack said, looking at Goodman. "Booth has a kid?" Hodgins finally said. "Ah. Well.. Not common knowledge, I gather." We all shook our heads as Doctor Goodman sighed and walked off.

* * *

"Puparia show the victim had valley fever." I rolled my eyes at Hodgins as we walked after Brennan. "We sort of knew that." Brennan said. "Wow, was that a shot? Because I apologized. I mean, Goodman doesn't get to see his kids, Anne and Zack don't get to see their family, Booth doesn't get to see his son. At least I'm an accidental Grinch. All due respect, you're the Grinch on purpose." Brennan stopped. "I have no idea what you're saying to me."

"The Grinch is a relatively well known creation of a children's author names Doctor Seuss." I explained, until Hodgins interrupted me. "Listen I got Angela for my Secret Santa thingy and what I wanna do is blow up a microscopic image of the toxic mold Stachybotrys chartarum, because I know she's very interested in fractal imaginary. I thought that it might appeal to her aesthetically. Do you two agree? You guys know her best." I nodded. "She might like it."

"I'm not really who you want to talk to about gifts. Booth has a kid?" Brennan said as she started walking again. "You didn't know?"

"No." At that Hodgins widened his eyes and took a step back. "I wasn't the one who told you." After which he walked off, leaving us behind.

* * *

Later that evening we all gathered in the bone room where Angela and I decorated a long table where we could have our Christmas dinner. The food we had was only take-out, Chinese, but it's the thought that counts. "So if Lionel, our victim, was a coin collector, that might explain the levels of lead and nickel in his bone." Hodgins said as he discussed the coins found in the victims suitcase. "When do they insert the needle into your brain?" Zack asked Doctor Brennan, as she sneezed again. "I only sneezed because the air is dry. It's not valley fever."

"Any other symptoms? Headache?" Doctor Goodman asked worryingly. "Any foul smelling pustules on your shins?" Zack asked, causing me to lose my appetite. "Look, she sneezed twice, that's it. Did you find out anything else about the letters?" Booth asked Goodman, trying to divert the attention away from Brennan. "Quite a lot, yes. They were very, very passionate love letters."

"Careful Lionel had a girlfriend." Hodgins said teasingly. "A girlfriend who was in trouble." Goodman remarked. "Pregnant trouble?" Angela asked. "Apparently careful Lionel wasn't so careful." I said jokingly, after which Booth spoke up. "Unmarried pregnant girl in Oklahoma in the late fifties.."

"You suppose Lionel came up here to procure an abortion?" Goodman asked as he took a bite from his box of noodles. "You know what? This isn't a very Christmas Eve type of story." Angela commented. "Of course it is." Brennan said. "The whole Christ myth is built upon the travails of an unwed mother." Booth sighed. "Okay, can we just stop bringing up the whole Christ myth thing, alright? Some people believe it's more than just a myth."

"Well, who besides you?"

"That would be me, Doctor Brennan. I'm a deacon at my church." Doctor Goodman said. "I do, too." Angela said. "Christmas and Easter anyway."

"Although I believe organized religion is just another political movement designed to control the masses, don't mean God doesn't love me." Hodgins answered as he turned to Zack and I. "Hey, I'm a rational empiricist all the way." Zack said. "Unless you talk to his mother." I said jokingly. "Then I'm Lutheran." Zack said, finishing my sentence. "Same." I said, answering Brennan's question last. "I can understand why you'd be so sensitive, Booth. You have a child out of wedlock." And then there was silence. Angela looked at Brennan and sighed. "Sweetie.."

"What?" Brennan asked, raising an eyebrow at her. "The letters display a combination of both block and cursive." Goodman said, bringing up the case again. "A combination of both printing and writing?" Angela asked him. "It would indicate that she may have left school sometime in the second grade. Most white children in those days would obtain at least an eighth grade education."

"She was African American?" Brennan asked Goodman. "Why I believe so, yes."

"Is there any way that Lional was an African American?" Hodgins asked, turning to me. "No, he was definitely Caucasian."

"Wow. A white man and a pregnant black girl in 1958 Oklahoma." Angela said with a sigh at the end. "That was bad?" Zack asked. "It was illegal." Goodman commented. "In Oklahoma?" Hodgins asked him. "Not just Oklahoma, here in D.C."

"Then why come here?" Angela wondered. "They were running away. Lionel had two tickets to Paris, and where else in 1958 could a white man and a black woman get married and live together?" Booth said, he stopped talking when he saw Hal enter the room. "Visiting hours, folks." He said. "Who's first?"

"As director of this institution, I claim that right." Goodman said as he signed the sheet of paper Hal held out for him and walked away quickly. "Okay, brief announcement." Angela said, standing up from her seat. "You guys might recognize my dad, but I don't really want to talk about it, so, thanks. Okay? That's all." I smiled. I didn't really care what happened today, as long as we got to see Zack's family. Being an orphan myself, Zack was only the family I had known for years and I wanted to see him happy.

* * *

"Alright, it's your turn." Hal said to Zack as he gave us both an earpiece. "This will allow you to communicate with your family."

"Thanks." I said as I put in the earpiece. I hooked onto Zack's arm as we walked closer to the glass doors where his family would come to see us. After a few minutes they appeared, all seven of his siblings and his parents. They all waved at Zack, looking so happy to see him. I smiled and stepped back a bit. "Don't go. You're part of the family too." Zack said, pulling me back to the glass. "That's true, kiddo." His father said, and smiled at me. "Hi." I said, kneeling before the glass door, waving at one of Zack's younger sisters. They didn't seem to care that they had to spend Christmas eve over at the Jeffersonian, I guess it was kind of like an adventure to them. Zack smiled at me, still holding my hand. "Do you remember the first Christmas you spend with us?" Zack's mother asked me. "Of course I do." I said as I stood back up again. "Oh, yeah. Wasn't that the one where you fell into the pool while running after Jessica?" Zack's father said, holding up Jessica's hand. Zack's youngest sister had taken a liking to me when we first met. She laughed, unfortunately not all of them were able to wear an earpiece, but that was fine. What mattered was that they were all here. After a few minutes of talking to each other, Zack's mother put her hands on the glass, and the rest of the family soon joined in. Zack walked down the door and pressed his hand against each one. I smiled to myself. Maybe this Christmas wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

"Seems to me like Zack's family accepted you as one of their own." Sweets said as he took a sip of his coffee. I smiled and held up the heart-shaped necklace I wore around my neck. "They had."

"Had? You don't see them anymore?" Sweets asked as he picked up his notebook again. "We do, every Christmas." I said, glaring at him. "Oh, okay. So.. Tell me more about the victim. What else did you find out?"

"Well, after we met with Zack's family, Booth told us what he found out about Lionel's workplace. He worked as a lease inspector for a company called Silver Cloud Petroleum, and he was known for his extensive coin collection. The last person to have seen him alive was a cleaning lady that worked there, Ivy Gillespie. He believed that she might have been his lover. In order to run away together, Lionel needed money so he tried selling his coin collection to his friend. Someone called Gil Adkins. They believed that he killed Lionel for his collection which was worth about 8000 dollars at the time. They found sales records leading back to him."

"Case closed?" Sweets asked me. "Not quite."

* * *

The next day all of us came together at Angela's office, where she had previously projected a Christmas tree on the holographic display. We placed our gifts on the display table and waited for everyone the show up. When Brennan entered the office, Angela spoke up. "Good. Okay, everybody. Stand over here." She lead us closer to the projector. "Close your eyes." After we did, I could hear Angela fiddle with the control pad for a minute before speaking up again. "Okay, open your eyes." When I opened my eyes, I saw the Christmas tree appear with twinkling lights and snow falling around it. "Good work Angela." I heard Brennan and the others say to her as Christmas music started playing. Zack hugged me from behind as we looked at the Christmas tree. "Merry Christmas, Anne." He said and I smiled. "Merry Christmas, Zack."

* * *

"Look at all these gifts!" Angela said as she said down on the floor next to them. "We should be drinking eggnog while we're doing this." Booth said as he handed Hodgins a glass. "I wonder what this is." Angela said as she unwrapped her present. When she held it up for us, I could see it was an enlarged picture of the mold Hodgins talked about earlier. "It's beautiful." She said. "What is it?"

"It's prettier if you don't know the details." Hodgins said as he took a sip of eggnog. "Thank you." Angela said as she walked over to him for a hug. After that Goodman opened his gift. "Very impressive." He said as he held up an intricately crafted bird made out of paper. "Did you make this?" Goodman asked Booth. "Yeah." He said. "Thank you."

"I'm next." Zack said as he unrolled a large sheet of paper. It was a drawing of his family. "It's my family and me."

"And me." I said. I was surprised to see myself standing next to Zack in the drawing. "Thank you, Angela." I said as she hugged me. "You're welcome." After that Hodgins opened up his gift, I made him a wooden Arabara scarab which I modeled after a picture Doctor Goodman gave to me. "A sacred scarab, That is excellently sculpted. Thank you."

"You should thank Doctor Goodman as well, he's the one that gave me the idea." Hodgins shook my hand and pulled me into a hug. "Thank you." After Hodgins sat back down again, Booth opened his gift, pulling out a small robot from a yellow suitcase, which I recognized. Zack had been working on its voice recognition software for weeks. "Wow, Zack. That's.."

"A self-propelled, non-autonomic unit." Booth raised an eyebrow. "It's a robot." Hodgins commented. "I thought that if we get out of here in time today, you could give it to your son."

"Merry Christmas, Zack." Booth said as he gave Zack an enthusiastic handshake. "Thanks a lot."

"You're welcome." Next up was me. I picked up a purple box from the middle of the table and opened it up. It was a framed picture of me, Zack and Doctor Goodman at my doctorate graduation party earlier this year. Engraved on the picture frame was: Doctor Anne Rhonin, I'm proud to have you on our team. – Doctor Daniel Goodman. "Thank you, sir. That means a lot to me." I said as I walked over to hug him. "You're welcome, Miss Rhonin."

* * *

After our Christmas gift exchange we were called back to the lab entryway. Hal and another one of the emergency workers were testing out our individual blood samples. When the lights on the screen turned green, Booth spoke up. "Green. Is that Green as in go, or green as in stick a needle in your brain?" Hal smirked at Booth as he removed the head covering of his hazmat suit. "Merry Christmas." He said, causing us all to cheer. "Yes! We are outta here! Merry Christmas everyone!" Hodgins said while walking out of the lab with his hands in the air. "Do you think we can still go to back to Michigan this year?" I asked Zack as we started walking out of the lab. He stopped and looked at me as I held up two printed airplane tickets to Michigan. "Thank you." Zack said, smiling brightly as he hugged me, after which we finally left the lab.

* * *

"Sounds like your Christmas that year wasn't so bad after all." Sweets commented. He had stopped writing in his notebook a while ago and I was pretty sure we went over time this session. "It was nice. I still keep that picture on my desk at the Jeffersonian. I would love to see it again, but unfortunately Cam won't allow me back into the lab until you clear me." Sweets smirked as he stood up with me. "Soon." He said and held out his hand for me. I thought about ignoring him again, but he really did seem to care about what I was telling him today. I shook his hand causing him to give me a huge smile. He was such a puppy sometimes. "See you tomorrow, Sweets." I said, as I opened the door. "At three." He commented, picking up our coffee cups and wiping off the table. I watched him for a second after which I closed the door and headed home.


	5. Chapter 5

The Man on the Fairway:

Over the course of the next few weeks, I returned to Sweets office every single day for therapy. And every day we would discuss another one of the cases I had worked on at the Jeffersonian. I had to admit that I was starting to open up to Sweets a bit more. Talking to him made me feel like I wasn't so alone all the time. Today was our 13th session together, and as I sat down in my familiar seat, Sweets spoke up. "So.. Lucky number 13." He said jokingly. "Don't tell me you're into superstitions now?" I said, mocking him a little. "No, no. I'm not. I'm not lucky at all. In fact the only thing I've any luck with is Chess." I smirked at him. "You win a lot at chess?"

"Well, that depends on who I'm up against. So tell me, which case are we going to discuss today?"

* * *

"We'll be meeting with agents from the FAA, the NTFB, and the local police today." Doctor Brennan said as she drove the golf cart we were in towards our next crime scene. "Usually Booth handles those people." Zack said. "Plane crashes don't belong to the FBI." I commented as I held onto my seat, why where there so many bumps around here? "Why not? FAA stands for Federal Aviation Administration and NTSB stands for National Transportation Safety Board. That sounds federal to me and FBI stands for Federal Bureau.."

"Zack." I said, interrupting him. He sighed. "This is the third time in a row we've investigated without Booth. I don't like it."

"Why? He mostly ignores you."

"Ignoring me is Booth's way of acknowledging my presence. It's a guy thing." I raised an eyebrow at him, a guy thing? Really? "We're here." Brennan said, slowing down the golf cart as we approached an area cordoned off by yellow police tape. This was the site of a small plane crash that we were called to investigate. "Doctor Brennan?" A man in suit asked we stepped over the tape. "I'm Ian Dyson with the NTSB."

"These are my assistants, Zack Addy and Doctor Anne Rhonin." The man nodded, acknowledging us, then started leading us towards the middle of the crash site. "At approximately zero four hundred last night, a private jet with five passengers on board reported horizontal stabilizer trouble, two hundred miles southeast of Norfolk. Yeager Airport in Charleston tracked them for thirty minutes until they dropped off the radar screen at zero four thirty. The plane tried to make an emergency landing here when it clipped some trees and slammed to the ground. We found a mostly intact body over near the trees. The rest is bits and pieces."

"What makes this one of our cases?" Zack asked as I crouched near one of the coaled bodies. "We're kind of special. We're elite. We don't sort through just any set of remains." He said as Mr. Dyson crossed his arms. "It was a state department flight with a bunch of VIP's on board. Is that special enough?"

"I apologize if he offended you. Usually we have an FBI Agent who mediates our interpersonal encounters." I said, standing up and walking back over to them. "We found another skull." A woman said as she showed us two large pieces of bone. "Two skulls. Those pieces are from two different skulls." Zack commented, handing one of the pieces over to me. "I'll leave you super elite types to it." Mr. Dyson said, walking away. "Zack, we don't need Booth to mediate our interpersonal encounters." Brennan said as she leaned down to examine what was left of the cockpit. "Okay, pilot, copilot. Brings our count to six. Three mostly intact sets of remains, one partial, and two fragmented." I said, counting the victims. "Obviously the bodies are burnt to a crisp but no dermis, very little soft tissue, indications of high impact trauma, burst fractures to the lower thoracic and lumbar vertebrae consistent with injuries caused by the vertical impact of the falling aircraft." Zack said as Brennan and I examined one of the bodies on the ground. "Should I keep talking as though you are paying attention?"

"What do you make of this?" Brennan said to me, holding up a fragment of bone. "Femur fragment, no charring." I answered. "You think this fragment doesn't belong to the plane crash?"

"What are the odds?" Brennan asked. "A crashing plane falling directly on a human being?" Zack said. "One in.. ten million?"

* * *

"The information that I'm about to tell you must not leave this room" Doctor Goodman said as he sat down on top of his desk. Everyone had gathered in his office after the victims were delivered to the Jeffersonian. "I am philosophically imposed to institutional secrecy in all its forms." Hodgins commented from the corner of the room. "Fine, get out." Hodgins scoffed and stayed quiet after that. "Two communist Chinese trade attachés were on that plane when it crashed, both high ranking party men."

"Well obviously we shot it down." I head Hodgins say quietly. "The FAA and the NTSB can prove that it was an accident. Also on the manifest was an American business man, a pilot and a co-pilot. Five people."

"Doctor Goodman, we found six sets of human remains on that airplane." Zack said, correcting him. "Not to mention the three bone fragments which were not on the plane." Brennan added. "Is there any chance those bone fragments were on the plane?" Goodman asked us. "You mean as carry-on luggage?" I said jokingly. "I don't believe so. Everything on the plane burned, the bone fragments were untouched by fire."

"Hmm.. Then forget about the bone fragments for the time being. The state department is extremely anxious to find the identity of that sixth person. No one wishes this to become an international incident. Therefore, this is our only priority."

"I disagree!" Brennan yelled as she stood up from her seat. "For the love of God, why?"

"Because the plane crash was an accident. The bone fragments were not."

"How do you know?"

"Anne found unusual cut marks."

"Cut marks congruent with dismemberment." I added. Goodman sighed. "People, one hour ago I received a call from the secretary of state requesting that the unidentified extra passenger be our first priority."

"So now politics are more important than murder?" Brennan asked Goodman who sighed again. "I'm not saying please. I'm not being reasonable. I'm making the decision. First and foremost identify that sixth body."

* * *

"We've made some progress on the mystery passenger." Angela said as we all walked into the bone room. "Fill me in." Brennan said. "Nasal ridges indicated that she was a Caucasoid female approximately 5'10". Epiphyseal fusion puts her age somewhere between twenty to twenty-five." I said, walking over to the side of the table. "I have a theory." Angela said. "Femme fatal assassin?" Hodgins asked. "Unregistered flight attendant?" Zack added. "Young, beautiful girl, doesn't appear on the flight manifest, group of high powered politicians?" Angela said, rolling her eyes at their theories. "Oh." Hodgins said. "Wait, what?" Zack asked him. "Someone on that flight might have been doing his daughter or girlfriend a favor." Brennan said. "You're sweet, honey. You really are." Angela said, smiling at Brennan. "You think she was the in-flight entertainment?" I asked her, pointing out the obvious. "Yeah, I do. So.. Anything you want to tell us about the bone bits you care so much about?" Angela asked Brennan, who was still examining one of the fragments on the table. "Supra orbital margin is rounded, suggesting a male." Zack commented. "Yes, and there are signs of osteolytic liping or polish on this piece of vertebrae."

"Arthritis." I added. "So a middle aged guy?" Angela asked us. "Weathering and discoloration suggests these bones have been out there for approximately five years.." Brennan lay the fragment back down on the table and sighed. "I'm gonna ask you guys to help me on this."

"You mean after the Communist thing?" Angela said. "No, immediately." Brennan said. "I'm in." I said. "You want us to defy Doctor Goodman?" Zack asked Brennan. "I'm in, too." Hodgins said after that. "Not defy per say, do both jobs but keep one a secret."

"I'm in." Hodgins repeated. "We get it, Hodgins. You're a rebel." I commented, rolling my eyes at his enthusiasm. "Zack, I need you to analyze the cuts on the bone."

"I was kind of hoping to keep my job." He said nervously. "Fine, then I'll do it." I said, taking one of the fragments over to the microscope. "There's not enough skull here for me to do a reconstruction." Angela mentioned to Brennan. "If I gave you a picture, you could tell me if the skull piece is a match?"

"Ah, I could construct a schematic and see if the shard fits the general shape of the skull."

"Has anyone noticed that I was one of the first to offer help and I'm apparently useless?" Hodgins said, interrupting the conversation. "Not true. You are the one that's going to keep Goodman from finding out." Brennan said as she started walking towards me. "I'm in." Hodgins repeated again. I rolled my eyes again, he was such a weirdo sometimes.

* * *

"Well, one of the bone fragments has distinctive ridge mark indentations." Zack said as he pointed out one of the bone fragments on the computer screen. "Knife mark?" Hodgins asked. "Yes, specifically a carving knife." I said to him. "What about the other ones, jagged marks?" Angela asked us. "Some kind of machine blade." Zack said. "Like a jigsaw or a chainsaw?" Angela wondered. After a few seconds of looking at the pictures, I heard someone clear their throat behind us. After which I quickly turned off the screens display. "Are you suggesting one of the Chinese diplomats was wielding a chainsaw?" I turned around and saw Doctor Goodman standing behind us. "Ah, good one sir." I said with an awkward smile on my face. "Zack knows much more about this than I do and we weren't discussing a literal chainsaw cut but rather the pattern it leaves on the bone. Right, Zack? " Zack froze up at that but Angela quickly formulated a response. "You know blades move in several distinctive ways."

"Several distinctive ways." Hodgins said, repeating Angela. "Circular elliptical segmented, the chainsaws are designed to cut soft materials at high speed so when cutting hard materials like bone they create wave marks by the action of the blade." Zack said speaking very quickly as he pointed at one of the pictures on his desk. "This pattern is too organized, too linear."

"Therefore, no Chinese chainsaw massacre scenario." I added. "Hmm, yes, fascinating." Goodman said. "What has it got to do with the victims of the plane crash?"

"We not only have to reassemble each of the plane crash victims but also figure out how their remains were scattered." Hodgins said quickly. "Not by being cut up, that's for sure." I said, smiling again. "Now that we've eliminated the blades…" I started again, talking until Goodman had walked away. "Never. Freeze. On. Us. Again." Hodgins said, pointing a finger at Zack. "I find Doctor Goodman scary." He said. "Well.. I'm never trusting any of us again. We're that good at lying, huh?" Angela commented as she walked of. "We're going to have to do much better than that." Hodgins said, smirking as he turned on the computer screen again. Zack sighed and held his head in his hands, I ruffled his hair after which I walked off too.

* * *

The next day, the five of us gathered in the bone room again for our secret investigation. Angela was keeping watch by the door as we discussed our findings. Brennan told us that she and Booth had gotten a lead on the possible identity of our murder victim, a middle aged man called Max Kane. After she had shown us some of his pictures, Zack spoke up. "The hack marks Anne found on the bone fragments were caused by a Heidal carving knife." After which he showed us a picture of a carving knife on one of the computer screens. "The osteological profile suggests evidence of post mortem freezing."

"Max Kane, disappeared mid-winter." Brennan said. "What about the jaded cut marks?"

"This is the part that makes me queasy." Angela sighed as she leaned against the door post. "The victim was frozen, dismembered, and fed into a wood chipper." Zack told us. "Then spread out over the golf course." Hodgins said quietly. "Either talk loudly enough so I can hear all the way or whisper so I can't." Angela said, looking back at us. "Maybe if we told Goodman what we know, he'd authorize a change in priorities." Zack suggested. "That or he'll suspend us all for lying to him." I said, making Zack a little nervous. "Anne's right." Brennan said. "So we're going to drop this and get back to what Doctor Goodman told us to do in the first place?" Zack asked Brennan hopefully. "No." Brennan said, smiling. "We are going to keep doing what we are doing."

"Behind Goodman's back." I added. "That's the spirit!" Hodgins said excitingly. Zack sighed at us, clearly fed up with this case.

* * *

"Plane crash victim number four, Captain Jacob Howard, pilot, age forty-seven, height five foot six, weight approximately one hundred and sixty seven pounds." I said, describing the hologram before us to Doctor Goodman. Angela, Brennan and I were telling Goodman which of the passengers matched which set of remains. "Overlay the photograph." Brennan asked Angela, who fiddled around with the control panel. "Frontal zygomatic sutures line up. Cranial meninges are in sync." She commented, pointing at the hologram. "Excellent that's one more off our list." Goodman said. "Victim number five." I started as the hologram changed again. "Shen Ru Fon, age fifty-six, height five foot six, weight approximately one hundred and forty pounds."

"Yes, that's terrific except we already knew all of these people were on the plane." Doctor Goodman said, interrupting me. "What the state department wants to know is the identity of our mystery woman. I hope I can count on your full energies on this."

"If I could be completely honest, sir.." Brennan said, but before she could continue Hodgins and Zack entered the room. "Toxicology reports came back from all six victims. Pilot and co-pilot were clean. Our two Chinese nationals had elevated levels of alcohol and Sildenafil more commonly known as Viagra and our mystery girl showed traces of alcohol and cocaine. So will the cover up start now or somewhere between here and the State Department?" Doctor Goodman sighed at Hodgins and tuned to face Brennan. "What were you saying about being completely honest?"

"Yes sir, regarding the bone shards.." Before she could continue, Zack interrupted her. "Uh, the prostitute was six inches taller than anyone else on the flight and she had occupational stress markers."

"Let's not call her a prostitute yet, Mr. Addy." Goodman said. "What occupational markers?"

"Ehm.." Hodgins said. "It's a foot thing." Goodman widened his eyes at that. "She was a fetishist?"

"Both her cuboid and medico malleolus show signs of wear." I added in. "But you can relax, Doctor Goodman." I continued. "She wore extremely high stiletto heels."

"I reconstructed her face from the partial skull." Angela said as she entered the data for the female victim, after which a picture of a young blonde woman showed up. "She was hot." Hodgins commented. "What's our next move?" Goodman asked Doctor Brennan. "I suggest we try to match this reconstruction with escort ads both internet and print in the DC area."

"Oh, I'll do that." Zack said quickly, causing me and Doctor Goodman to look at him. "Was that overly enthusiastic?" He asked. I smirked and put a hand on his shoulder. "Only a little bit."

"Thank you for the update." Doctor Goodman said. "This case continues to be your top priority, correct?" He asked Brennan. "If I could suggest.."

"Doctor Brennan has been very clear about your priorities on this, sir." Hodgins said quickly, at which Goodman nodded and left. That was close..

* * *

While Zack and I were on our way to have lunch, we ran into Booth and Brennan at the parking lot near a wood chipper. "Booth!" Zack said. "Nobody told me you were working this case." Booth ignored Zack, and kept talking to Brennan. "Only two people have had access to this machine in the past seven years. A city maintenance foreman and a city maintenance worker by the name of Ray Sparks. Sparks has got a jacket so.. What do you say? You want to come with me to go talk to him?" After Booth stopped talking, Zack leaned in to me and whispered in my ear. "Told you. It's a guy thing."

"Alright, here we go." Booth said, walking off. "Let Angela do the escort matching. I have something a lot more interesting for you and Hodgins." Brennan said to Zack. "What's more interesting than escorts?" I said jokingly. "I need you guys to run a dispersal pattern test on the chipper." Brennan said. "Using what medium?" Zack asked Brennan. "Assume the victim was frozen solid when he was fed into the chipper."

"No way!" Zack said excitingly. "The correct response would be yes way." I told him.

* * *

After I marked off an area around the wood chipper, Hodgins and Zack rolled out a covered up gurney into the parking lot. In the meantime, tons of people had gathered around us. "There are too many people." I commented, looking around us. "How are we going to keep this from Doctor Goodman?" Zack asked me. "Ah, he's having lunch with the President of Harvard." Hodgins said, causing Zack and I to calm down a bit. "What's going on?" I heard from behind us. As I turned around I could see Angela walking towards us with a disgusted look on her face. "Why is every guy from the Jeffersonian out here?"

"They're scientists and this is a fascinating scientific inquiry." I told her. "Oh my god, you are just like them aren't you?" I rolled my eyes at that. "They're all out here because you're going to feed something through this wood chipper, right?"

"Not just something." Hodgins said as he removed the sheet from the gurney, revealing a frozen pig. "Tada! A frozen pig!"

"Oh no." Angela said. "The morphology of pig bones is almost identical to human bone." Zack commented. "By feeding the pig through the wood chipper we'll be able to determine the dispersal pattern of the fragments." Hodgins added. "By comparing the pulverized pig remains to the fragments we found at the golf course we'll be able to tell if this is the actual wood chipper the victim was fed through." I said as I helped Zack and Hodgins carry the pig up to the wood chipper. "Liars!" Angela yelled. "You just want to see what happens when you toss some frozen pig into the wood chipper!"

"Ready?" Hodgins said, causing everyone around us to cheer. "One, two, Three!" We said, releasing the pig on three, causing pig grind to shoot up into the air. Everyone around us started cheering until they got covered in pig grind themselves. "Uh-oh." Zack said as he pointed out a nearby car. Doctor Goodman was standing next to it, covered in pig grind. Busted..

* * *

"There's no way that wood chipper experiment is connected to the plane crash at the golf course." Doctor Goodman said to me as Hodgins fiddled around on his computer. "Look." Hodgins said, trying to get Goodman's attention. "Don't say anything, just listen. Your primary job is to do what I say. Failing at that job is to fool me. You have failed me Doctor Rhonin. I thought you of all people would keep those two in check."

"Sir, I.."

"I'd have fooled you if you would have gone to lunch as planned." Hodgins said, interrupting me. "I'll find some administrative ways to punish you." Goodman said, holding up his finger at me. "Parking, dining room privileges, budget reviews, that sort of thing. But if it happens again.."

"I understand, sir." I said, glaring at Hodgins who still fiddled around on his computer. "Got it." Hodgins said. "Do you, Doctor Hodgins?" Goodman said as he leaned in next to Hodgins. "You think I'm a kind and fair man, egoless, balanced, ruled by intelligent reflection.. But I do have an ego. I can be vindictive and petty. I will take you down even if it means striking at you through your friends and coworkers." At that I took a step back. Hodgins turned to Doctor Goodman, looking shocked. "Now you understand?" He smirked and walked away. "Terrifying." I said, repeating Zack's words from earlier.

* * *

"After Goodman scolded me and Hodgins for our experiment, Angela and I found a couple of matches for our mystery woman and handed them off to Doctor Goodman after which we were allowed to continue our work on the bone fragments." Sweets laughed at me. "Goodman got you good didn't he?" I smirked. "Goodman is good with words, lucky for us he didn't actually do any of that."

"So, what happened after that?" Sweets asked me. "Well, as it turned out our wood chipper experiment was useful after all. We were able to determine a splatter pattern, showing us where the rest of the body could've landed."

"Which is probably why Doctor Goodman didn't reprimand you." I smiled. "Exactly. After we found and brought back most of the remaining bone fragments, we found something interesting.."

* * *

"Amazingly we found a finger with a nail still attached to it, and underneath that nail.." I said, motioning Zack to continue. "Polyurethane, the tough stuff. The victim must have been scraping at something before he died. I.. I can't identify this bone anomaly though. It's full of osteoids, thick, maybe part of the mandible?" He said, pointing at the nearby computer screen. "Human. Something odd with the cell structure.." Doctor Brennan said, as she looked through the microscope. "A wood chipper wouldn't do that kind of damage at the cellular level." I added. "It's a non-malignant bone tumor." Brennan clarified to us. "I need the most recent bone scans from Max Kane's medical records." While she was talking, the phone on the desk rang. "Anne speaking."

"Anne, listen up. Tell Bones that the local PD just arrested Jesse Kane for attacking Karen Anderson."

"Will do." After that I hung up and repeated what Booth had said to Brennan. Who ran off immediately afterwards.

After looking at Max Kane's bone scans, we determined that he wasn't our victim. I sighed as I sat down on top of Zack desk and started playing with my necklace. "If the bones didn't belong to Max Kane, then who's our dead guy?" Hodgins said as he was playing with a lighter. "We can send out a description of the chondroma to local area hospitals. See if it leads to any missing patients?" Brennan suggested, after which Booth spoke up. "Yeah, we can do that. Zack, list the pertinence."

"Me? Are you talking directly to me?" Zack asked, looking disappointed. "Yeah, you. You can tell because my eyes are looking at you and my mouth is aimed in your direction."

"But what about our guy thing? If you're speaking to me, then does this mean I'm not on the team?" I chuckled, poor Zack. "Zack, lets concentrate on the work." Doctor Brennan said to him. "Pertinence?"

"Pertinence." Zack nodded and walked over to the computer. "The victim died. We don't know how. He was then frozen, dismembered with a Heidal carving knife, and pushed through a black mantis 1200 wood chipper."

"The exact wood chipper that Ray Sparks had access too." Booth said. "But wasn't he in jail at the time?" I commented. "Sparks was in jail when Max Kane Disappeared." Hodgins said. "But our victim isn't Max Kane.." Zack added. "Who else would Ray Sparks have motive to kill?" I asked them. "The victim is a middle aged male.." Zack began, but was soon interrupted by Booth. "His brother."

"What motive?" Hodgins asked. "They both inherited a house. Okay, you guys. You look at that tumor again and Brennan and I will go talk to Sparks."

"While you're there, look for a large freezer." Zack said as Booth was about to run off. "Why?"

"The body was frozen solid." I commented. "Polyurethane is a common insulating liner in freezers." Zack added. "Which we found under the victim's finger nail, like he was scratching to get out." Hodgins said, after which Brennan and Booth ran off.

* * *

"After Ray Sparks got arrested for the murder of his brother, all of us celebrated at Wong Foo's where Booth started ignoring Zack again. I still don't understand why."

"It's a guy thing." Sweets said, earning himself a glare. "Right." I started. "So, case closed. Time to go home." I said as I stood up from my seat and made my way to the door. "Anne." Sweets said, causing me to turn around. "Do you always do this sort of thing?" I raised an eyebrow at him as I put on my jacket. "What sort of thing?" Sweets sighed and leaned on one of the nearby chairs. "I noticed that every time you seem to become more open towards me, you shut me out completely again afterwards. It's frustrating." I sighed and opened the door. I waited a second before shaking my head and walking out of the office, leaving Sweets behind without an answer.


	6. Chapter 6

The Woman in Limbo

"So, what do you know about Doctor Brennan's parents?" Anne asked Sweets as she took a sip from her cup of coffee. Sweets flipped through his notebook for a moment, then spoke up. "They left her and her brother when she was only 15 years old, her mother was murdered and her father is currently in prison awaiting trial.."

"Correct." Anne said. "Do you how her mother's remains were discovered?"

"I do not. I tried to get Doctor Brennan to talk more about her family, but she never wanted to discuss it." Sweets said, causing Anne to smirk. "Do you want to me to tell you?"

* * *

I sighed as I examined the skull Zack brought up from Limbo. Female, mid 40s, she had died almost a decade ago. Even with the tissue markers in place, we were only a little bit closer to identifying her. Zack had tried to get Doctor's Brennan to look at the skull for hours now, but the chances of that were slim. She had a court hearing today and was running all over the place. "Doctor Brennan?" I turned around when I heard Zack call Doctor Brennan as she walked up the forensic platform. "What's up?" She said, swiping her keycard through the reader and walking up the platform with Booth and Doctor Goodman on her tail. "Buttercup." Zack said. "If you sign off on these tissue markers, Angela can finish the facial reconstruction." Brennan raised an eyebrow at him. "Why did you say buttercup?" I smiled and answered. "What's up, buttercup is an amusing, rhyming, linguistic meme." Brennan nodded in at me as she put on a pair of gloves. "How about this for an amusing, rhyming linguini. See ya later, alligator." Booth said as he walked up to the platform as well. "This is the latest Jane Doe from Limbo." Zack said. "Please don't refer to the bone storage as Limbo, Mr. Addy." Doctor Goodman said as he leaned in next to the skull. "5 minutes." He asked Brennan, who ignored him. "There are thousands of human remains down there waiting to be identified. Limbo seems like an appropriate name." I told Goodman, who rolled his eyes at me. "No sign of foul play." She said. "If you have time for this, you have time for my Hetite." Doctor Goodman said, crossing his arms over one another. "Tissue depth of the cheekbones and along the jaw line looks a little deep to me, but otherwise-" Brennan commented until Booth interrupted her. "Out of Limbo, back on earth and on our way to court." He said, pulling her back from the skull and waving at us. "She didn't sign off on the tissue markers.." Zack sighed as he lay down the clipboard he was holding on his desk. "I don't think she'll mind if I sign off this one." I said, winking at Zack as I signed the form. "Thank you, Anne." He said, picking up the skull after which he started walking towards Angela's office. I smiled and sat down behind my desk. After a few minutes I saw Doctor Brennan walk back into the lab. "Doctor Brennan, weren't you supposed to be in court by now?" I asked her. "I will be soon, I just need to get my.." She stopped and walked into Angela's office. I tried to see what was going on from the platform, but quickly took a step back when I saw Brennan run out of the office. "Anne, the artifact bag from Zack's Jane Doe – do you have it?" She asked me, after which I handed her what she asked for over the railing. "There you go, Doctor Brennan. We also have three-" I stopped talking when I saw her run away again. "Three bags of soil samples." I said to myself, finishing my sentence. I sighed and made my way over to Angela. "Angela, what was that all about?"

"Any of you see Bones? We're due in court, like, now?" I heard Booth say from behind me. Angela, Zack and Goodman were all standing around the holopad with confusion on their faces. "What?" Booth and I said in unison. "This.." Angela started, typing on the control pad, revealing a hologram of a woman. "Totally freaked her out." After which Booth picked up his cellphone and started dialing a number. "My theory: Caffeine intolerance." Zack said, making me chuckle. "Booth. Yeah, you're gonna want to take Doctor Brennan off the witness list today." I heard Booth say on the phone. "No. She can't make it into court. Thanks."

"Alright, will someone please tell me what's going on?" Angela asked. "That.." Booth said, pointing at the hologram. "Is Christine Brennan. You just found Bones's Mother."

"Oh my god." I said.

* * *

"Adipocere and decomp residues in the bagged soil indicate the body was buried at least five years." Hodgins said to us we approached his station. "That's congruent with the P.H. levels found in the soil." I commented as I sat down on the nearby desk. "Climate and degree of decomposition confirm that as well." Zack added. At this Brennan frowned. "No. Seven years. It should be seven years."

"I'm still going through the soil samples, something in there might allow me to be more specific." Hodgins said. "She was buried near Christmas of 1991." Doctor Brennan commented as she walked up to the forensic platform. "I need the room, guys." Booth said as he approached us. "The whole lab? For what?" Zack asked him. "That's just his way of saying get out." I said, chuckling as I started pushing Zack in to my office. "Okay.."

* * *

"Anne, do you have a moment? I've got a problem." Hodgins asked me as I walked by his station. "Sure, what is it?" I said, taking a step back to him and leaning on his chair. "A clump of cellulose. It came from the soil samples collected at Brennan's mom's burial site from the same depth as her bones." I looked at the petri dish on his desk. "I can see that. What's the problem?"

"I used the laser scanning confocal microscope. It showed that this is mass-produced cardboard. Now electron dispersion spectroscopy indicates that the cardboard is coded with ethylenically unsaturated monomers, which kept it from completely deteriorating.." Hodgins said as he pulled up an enhanced picture of the piece of paper he found. "It's a movie ticket." I said, after which Hodgins nodded. "With a little U.V. analysys, and some guesswork, I came up with The Fugitive."

"The Fugitive.. An old Harrison Ford movie right?"

"The Fugitive was the third top-grossing film of 1993." At which I widened my eyes. "Oh my god. Brennan still thinks her mother died in 1991, right after she disappeared." I sighed and sat down on the desk next to Hodgins, who spoke up again. "Yet, her mom went to Harrison Ford movies almost 2 years later."

"This is huge." I said. "What do I do?" Hodgins asked me. "Pretend I never found this?"

"No." I said. "You have to tell her. She deserves to know what happened."

* * *

Later that day, Zack and I went back into the lab to examine Christine Brennan's skull further. "Zack, Anne?" I heard Brennan say as she walked up to us. "Yes, Doctor Brennan?" Zack asked her. "I'm pretty sure I just found cause of death."

"Really?" I asked her, she nodded at me and picked up the skull. "See the discoloration on the inside of the skull?" Zack and I looked at the skull from over her shoulders. "Left side, extending from the coronal suture, crossing the superior and inferior temporal lines to the squamosal suture.." Zack said until I interrupted him. "Wow." I said when I saw Booth walking into the lab, with a man I recognized from one of Brennan's old pictures. It was her brother. "Subdural hematoma, a big one." Zack continued his observations, not noticing that Brennan and I had stopped paying attention. "Doctor Brennan?" He asked as he watched her walk of the edge of the platform. "Probably fatal." She said quietly. "There are no indications of a blow to the outer skull." I added, still watching Brennan as she stared at her brother. "Scan the outside of the skull. Look for histological changes, microscopic modeling." After saying that, Brennan started making her way over to Booth. "I don't want to talk to him." She said, after which she started walking out of the room, leaving her brother standing next to us. "Bones, wait!" Booth said. "Zack, watch this guy. If he tries to leave, shoot him with a tranquilizer gun or something." After that he ran off too. "I don't have a tranquilizer gun." Zack said, looking confused. "What a case.." I whispered to myself as sat back down behind my desk and started up the computer.

* * *

"It must've been tough for Doctor Brennan to see her brother again after all those years." Sweets said as he leaned back in his chair. "That's probably why she ran away from him."

"You don't know the half of it. As the case progressed we found out that Christine Brennan wasn't who she said she was. Brennan's parents had faked their identities and told her brother Russ to lie to her about it."  
"Wow." Sweets said under his breath as I continued. "Booth found her parents car at an impound lot near Washington and brought it over to the lab. We found two separate blood samples inside. One of which belonged to her mother. The other, a male, was unrelated to her. While Booth investigated a lead on the unidentified male in the car, Brennan re-examined the skull."

* * *

"Doctor Brennan, is it morning?" I asked her as she walked in to the bone room late at night. "No, I couldn't sleep. Why are you still here?" Brennan asked me. "We're all here." I heard Zack say from doorway as he entered the room too. "No one's leaving until we figure out what happened to your mother." He said. Brennan smiled at us. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me, I'm failing." I said. "I've gone over every millimeter of the skull and found no evidence of remodeling."

"Which makes no sense." Zack said. "Because any wound that results in a subdural hematoma that big should leave a mark on the living bone." Brennan thought about that for a moment, and spoke up. "What if the subdural hematoma started out much smaller?"

"And grew over time?" Zack asked her. "Over the course of, say, a year?" Brennan suggested. "That might explain the gap between the time my mother sustained the injury and the time she was buried."

"And the blow itself might not have left a mark on the bone." I said, thinking aloud. "Doctor Rhonin, show me the surface of the skull directly above the center of the hematoma and enlarge it." Brennan asked, after which Zack pointed the camera at right part of the skull. A few seconds later the image showed up on my computer screen, which I then magnified. "Hundred times magnification." I said. "Go to 500." She said, staring at the image as I enhanced it. "See here?" She said, pointing at the screen. "Microscopic fractures of the osteons." Zack commented. "Is that the result of bleeding into the interstitial spaces?"

"We could map out the fractured osteons." I said. "That might lead us to a potential weapon."

"Good work, Doctor Rhonin, Mr. Addy." Brennan said as she took off her gloves and walked out of the room.

* * *

"This is the pattern of fractures osteons." Zack said, pulling up a picture on his computer. "It suggests a blow from the front that grazed the skull." I added, watching Doctor Brennan as she examined the picture. "A bullet?" She asked. "There would've been particulates left behind by a bullet. Especially fired from a short range." Hodgins commented as he rolled over to us in his chair. "I isolated the most fractured osteons and this pattern emerges." Zack said as he changed the picture on the screen again. "It looks like the business end of a tire iron." Hodgins commented. "No, the size is wrong." I said. "The weapon was chasing the skull when it landed. I believe the victim was pulled away at the last second so that most of the force was lost, leaving only the slightest impression." Brennan nodded at my observation and turned as she heard Booth calling her name. When she made her way over to him, she stopped and turned around for a moment. "Everybody.. Thank you. I- Thank you." She said, smiling at us before walking off.

* * *

The next day Zack and I were called back to the lab early, and when we got there Booth told us to examine some of the weapons he found near one of his leads. It turned out that the unidentified blood sample belonged to a pig farmer called Vince McVicker who was in the witness protection program. "What's going on?" Brennan asked us as she entered the forensic platform. "The FBI delivered all these tools and weapons from the pig farm guy Booth was after." Hodgins said as he picked up one of the weapons and examined it. "We went through them to see if any of them match the mark on your mom's skull."

"We've got 20 hammers, a dozen hatchets.." I read out loud as I looked through the list of items Booth had given me. "The man sure loves his blunt instruments." Hodgins commented. "Seven tire irons." Zack said, frowning as he spoke. "None of them match the wound, even allowing for shrinkage." Brennan sighed. "It was 15 years ago. Even if McVicker killed my mother, what are the chances that he held on to the exact weapon?"

"Ugh, it's always like this with McVicker." Booth said. "Some mook is found with his forehead bashed in, the FBI goes in the basement, collects about 40 hammers and nothing matches."

"Always the forehead?" Brennan asked him. "Yeah. That's his signature kill. Not that anyone could ever prove it."

"You did say guys like McVicker get comfortable with a way of killing.."

"Where did McVicker grow up? I asked, interrupting Brennan. "He grew up on a farm in Iowa, why?" Booth said. "How do you slaughter a pig?" I asked him. He smiled at me. "Good thinking, Anne." He said, after which he ran off, taking Brennan with him.

* * *

"Did that help Doctor Brennan catch her mother's murderer?" I smiled. "Yes, it did. The murder weapon turned out to be a bolt stunner McVicker kept on his farm."

"I can imagine why she never told me about this." Sweets said. "Thank you for telling me." I nodded and I stood up from my seat. "You're welcome." I said. Sweets stood up too and escorted me to the door, reaching out for the handle, but not opening the door. "Anne, I would like to ask you for your help in gathering information for a book I'm writing. It's about the relationship between Doctor Brennan and Agent Booth." He paused and lay a hand on my arm. "You know so much more about them than I do, so.. It would really help me out." I smirked. "What's in it for me?" I said, taking a step closer to him, causing him to blush and take a step back. "Think about it, okay?" He said as he straightened his jacket. "See you tomorrow."


End file.
